Best Practices for Developing Teacher Competencies in Working with Gifted Students: A Bibliometric Analysis of Global Research Trends

Abstract

Educating gifted and talented students requires teachers to possess specialized competencies beyond general pedagogical skills. Gifted learners, often defined as the top few percent (roughly 5–7%) of students in ability, have unique cognitive and socio-emotional needs. They learn faster and deeper, may become bored with standard curricula, and often require differentiated instruction (such as enrichment or acceleration) to thrive. Consequently, developing teacher competencies for working with gifted students has become a critical focus in education research and policy worldwide. Globally, research on gifted education has grown significantly over the past two decades[5], reflecting increasing awareness that teachers need targeted training to effectively support high-ability learners. In Kazakhstan, for example, state initiatives since the 1990s (e.g. a 1996 Presidential decree and a 2000 talent support program) have promoted gifted education[6], leading to specialized schools (e.g. Daryn centers, Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools) and a call to enhance teacher preparation for gifted students. However, early studies noted that “teachers working with gifted children professional competence research is not properly reflected” and that systematic advanced training for such teachers “remains open” as an issue. This article addresses the question: What are the best practices for developing teacher competencies in working with gifted students, based on global research trends from 2000 to 2025?

Research Question (PICO): In formulating this inquiry, we specify the Population as K-12 educators of gifted students, the Intervention as training and professional development programs (pre-service or in-service) aimed at enhancing competencies for teaching gifted learners, the Comparison as educators without such specialized training or varying training approaches, and the Outcomes as teacher competencies (knowledge, skills, attitudes) and related student outcomes (e.g. achievement, engagement of gifted learners). The goal is to synthesize evidence on how teacher competencies for gifted education are defined in the literature and which strategies are most effective in developing these competencies. We also consider both global trends and the local context of Kazakhstan, highlighting contributions by researchers such as Dr. Zhuldyz Erkinovna Alibayeva (Alkey Margulan University, Kazakhstan) who is actively engaged in studying models of teacher professional development.